New green belt survey published
NATURAL England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have joined forces to publish Green Belts: a Greener Future, the first major national survey of the environmental state of Green Belt land, and the benefits it provides for people and wildlife.
Together, Green Belts cover 13% of the land surface of England and 30 million people live in or next to a Green Belt.
New research presented in this report concludes that the Oxford Green Belt, established over fifty years ago, and covering 66,868 hectares, is a vital environmental asset.
It is, states the report:
* the best means of protecting the Oxfordshire
countryside from urban sprawl
* a valuable resource in providing space for people
to exercise and enjoy peace and quiet
* a large area of truly rural landscape on the edge
of our historic city
* important for agriculture
* and of growing importance for wildlife
The report continues: “Oxford?s Green Belt remains under constant threat from inappropriate development, including the proposed urban extension into the Green Belt south of the City, for a mixed development of at least 4,000 houses, the proposed Northern Gateway scheme which could include two parcels of Green Belt land and the proposed development of Green Belt land around Wheatley and Berinsfield in South Oxfordshire.”
CPRE and Natural England have agreed a series of actions that they feel need to be taken to improve Oxford?s Green Belt, through:
“continuing to uphold existing Government planning policy which restricts new development in the Green Belt;
focusing on better and more co-ordinated land management to help the Green Belt deliver vital environmental services ? such as attractive landscapes, wildlife rich habitats, places for recreation, healthy soils, fresh water, woodland and improved air quality;
maintaining and improving the Green Belt as part of an ecological network between the city, the surrounding countryside, and nationally important landscapes; and
encouraging more public use of the Green Belt, while maintaining the Green Belt?s open, rural character (the Oxford Green Belt Way allows city residents to walk the Green Belt and get there and back by public transport).
Helena Whall, Campaign Manager for CPRE Oxfordshire, said: ?By protecting land from development, the Oxford Green Belt has protected the setting of the historic city of Oxford and prevented the uncontrolled urban sprawl witnessed in many other cities. This report shows that the Green Belt is much more than a planning designation. It is a vital environmental resource than can help with the production of locally grown food, support wildlife and provide breathing places for city dwellers and others.?
She concluded: ?The report confirms that the countryside around the city of Oxford is a vital, but fragile, environmental asset. It underpins what we at CPRE have been saying for decades ? that we must continue to not only defend, but strengthen our Green Belt.
“We must continue to make full use of the opportunities it provides to allow people to enjoy their local countryside. We must not sacrifice the health of the city of Oxford and the surrounding environment by allowing plans to build homes in protected countryside.?
